Taurinus, who had studied law not mathematics, developed ideas with (but also beyond) his young uncle F. K. Schweikart; though little-known, he is a significant figure in the development of non-Euclidean geometry, a subject of mutual interest that he discussed with his correspondent Gauss. Though Gauss encouraged Taurinus in his work (while claiming to have developed similar ideas years previously), he also asked him not to reveal their discussions. Taurinus did however do so when he published his book; it was nevertheless a flop, with Taurinus having all unsold copies burned.